Bus Barn Stage Company’s production of the satirical comedy “The House of Blue Leaves ” is scheduled to run through May 5 in Los Altos.

Directed by Jeanie K. Smith, the production marks Bus Barn’s first foray into the works of awarded-winning American playwright John Guare.

“Leaves” is the story of Artie Shaughnessy, a zookeeper by day who harbors dreams of songwriting fame and glory. Burdened by his wife’s mental illness, his son’s alienating behavior and his girlfriend’s Lady Macbethlike demands, Artie struggles hopelessly to attain his singular desire. From the seedy piano bars to a rundown Queens apartment, his world and its inhabitants – the visiting pope, a trio of zealous nuns, the military police, psych-ward orderlies and eccentric Hollywood personalities – conspire to hold him back.

“Leaves” premiered in 1966 at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn. It opened Off-Broadway in 1971 and was revived in a 1986 Off-Broadway production that gave Ben Stiller his professional theater debut as Ronnie.

The play returned to Broadway in 2011, with Stiller starring in the lead role of Artie. It won the Obie Award and Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play, and multiple Tony Awards for its New York productions.